Washington Post writers still covering Olympics despite being laid off: ‘They can’t take away our spirit’

It’s been said that if you truly love doing something, you’d do it for free.

Washington Post writers Barry Svrluga and Les Carpenter are putting that into practice as they continue to cover the 2026 Milan Cortina Games despite being part of the paper’s mass layoffs that have effectively killed its historic sports section. 

They’ve joined Rick Maese and Robert Samuels, who are still with the newspaper and are also covering the Olympics. According to Svrluga, they’re the only journalists who made it out of the originally planned 14 staff members meant to cover the Games.

“I wanted to be occupied,” Svrluga, who is at his 12th Games, told the Associated Press’s Andrew Dampf. “I love covering the Olympics. … I had Lindsey [Vonn] injured in Sestriere and then had her gold (Vancouver, 2010) and I’ve had every one of her Olympic races, whether they were successes or not. Same with (Mikaela) Shiffrin.”

As for why he’s there despite being laid off by the Washington Post weeks earlier, Svrluga sees it as a responsibility not just to himself but to the readers who have stuck with the paper.

“It felt like a team sport for us, and that benefited the section and the paper,” Svrluga said. “What we’re trying to do here is remind people — readers and decision makers — that these are a lot of committed people who were doing things for the right reasons.

“They can take away our section, but in a way, they can’t take away our spirit.”

Carpenter, who is covering the events in Milan, agreed with that sentiment.

“The Post sports department always had such a great connection with its readers. I felt I had to stay to tell the story of this Olympics for them,” Carpenter said. “It’s what I’d want as a reader. If this is the end for Post sports, let’s give our most loyal readers our best.”

Svluga, who also wrote about the Washington Commanders, was among those honored by Dan Quinn last week when he left several seats open at his press conference for former WaPo writers.

The good news for those readers is that it sounds like the Baltimore Banner is already planning to fill the void left behind when it comes to D.C.-team coverage. However, the talent that made up the award-winning WaPo sports section is already starting to disperse.